Chain wrench



Aug. 28, 1951 J. c. ANDERSON CHAIN WRENCH Filed June 7, 1947 Qvwwvtm Joe 0. Anderson Patented Aug. 28, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I l V 2,566,108, p p

CHAIN WRENCH Joe C. Anderson, HoustornTex. Application June 7, 1947, Serial No. 753,184

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in a chain wrench.

An object of the invention is to provide a chain wrench for use on pipe, and the like, having novel features permitting the wrench to be readily and easily applied and adjusted to the pipe to be turned.

Another object of the invention is to provide a chain wrench for use on pipe and the like having a novel means for holding the jaws of the wrench in engagement with the pipe to rotate the pipe in one direction and means for quickly and easily reversing said holding means so that the pipe may be rotated in the opposite direction without necessitating the detachment and reattachment of the chain of the wrench from its encircling position around the pipe to be turned.

The above and other objects will be apparent from the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view of the wrench.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the reversing mechanism, and

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the wrench, partly in section.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the wrench handle, which has an outwardly projecting lug 2 through which the adjusting bolt 3 is mounted. An adjusting nut 4 is mounted on the lower end of said bolt 3 and thechain 5 has one end thereof pivotally mounted on the other end of said bolt 3. A pair of jaws, 6, 'l, are mounted on said handle I by means of suitable stud bolts, as 9, In, the upper ends of said jaws being inwardly and downwardly tapered toward the center thereof, each side having the oppositely faced teeth ll, l2. A notch l3 between said sides provides a pipe rest adapted to engage the pipe when the wrench is in neutral position.

A cradle comprising a pair of outwardly and upwardly extended arms l4, l5, mounted on the axle I6 is mounted between the jaws 6, l, the respective ends of the axle I6 extending through the ports ll, l8 in the jaws 6, I. The portion of said axle it between said arms I5, I4, is enlarged and has a fiat bottom. The upper wall of the ports [1, l8 has a notch l9 midway between the ends thereof to receive said axle I6 when the cradle is in neutral position.

A chamber 20 is provided in the upper end of the handle I in which the coil spring 2| is mounted. Seated on the upper end of said coil spring 2! is a plunger 22, the upper end of said plunger. 22, being beveled. The spring 2| urges 2 Claims. (01. 81--68) 2 l said plunger 22 against the fiat bottom of said cradle and, when the cradle is moved to a position on either side of neutral, out of said notch I9, the cradle is tipped, moving one end of the arms l4, l5, upwardly.

The chain 5 is placed around a pipe, as 23, and the jaws 6, I moved tightly against said pipe, and the chain then secured to the jaws as by moving the reduced portion of a link between two inwardly projecting studs as 24, 24 on the lower ends of the jaws 6, I, and then the slack, if any, is taken out of the chain by means of the adjusting nut 4. The cradle is then manually moved, by means of the projecting ends of the axle IE, to either side of the neutral position in the slots I1, l8, depending on the direction of rotation of the pipe desired. When moved to the position shown in Figure 3, the plunger 22 will be urged by the spring 2| against the cradle rocking the arms M, IS on said axle l6 and forcing the pipe 23 over against the teeth I l and the wrench then may be manipulated to turn the pipe in the desired direction, the teeth ll gripping the pipe on the forward stroke and sliding easily over the surface of said pipe on the back stroke. If it is desired to change the direction of rotation, the cradle is manually moved to the position opposite the neutral position by the operator placing his fingers against the projecting ends of the axle IE and overcoming the pressure of the spring 21 and sliding the cradle in the slots l1, l8, to the opposite side of the neutral position, where plunger 22 will apply pressure to the cradle, moving the arms against the pipe thus urging the pipe against the oppositely faced teeth 12, reversing the rotatin direction when the wrench is again manipulated.

The embodiments of the invention herein described and shown are to be regarded as illustrative only and it is to be understood that the invention is susceptible to variation, modification and change within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a chain wrench, a handle, a pair of jaws mounted on opposite sides of said handle, at one end thereof, an adjustable chain mounted on said handle and adapted to embrace the pipe to be rotated, a pipe receiving cradle having a transverse axle, the extended ends of said axle being reduced, said jaws having elongated ports through the sidewalls thereof in which the ends of said axle are mounted, said ends of said axle extending beyond said ports to provide means for sliding said axle and cradle transversely of 7 3 said jaws, a chamber in said handle, a coil spring in said chamber, a plunger mounted on said coil spring and in yieldable contact with said cradle so that when the cradle is moved to either side of the plunger axis, the plunger will bias the cradle tending to rock it about the axle, moving the pipe into contact with one of the jaws.

2. In a wrench, a handle, one end of said handle beingr'o'unded, a pair .of' toothed jaws mounted one on eachside of said handle at'said rounded end, means for guiding a pipe to be rotated into contact with one side of said jaws, said guiding means having upwardly extendin arms and having a transverse axle inountd in and extending through transverse eloii' gat'ed'ports in said jaws, a chamber in said rounded end of said handle, a spring loaded plunger mounted in said chamber in contact with said guidingimea'ns", said plunger constantly exerting pressure on i said guiding means to selectively rock said cradle when it is'mQved to a transverse extremity ,of

said ports, thus movin the pipe to be rotated into contact with said jaws.

JOE C. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Nllr nber Name ,Date

546,672 Markel Sept. 24, 1895 551,399 Newell Dec. 17, 1895 775,581 Rothenbucher Nov. 22, 1904 1,905,024 Tague Oct. 17, 1911 1,417,969 Burstall' et a1. May 30, 1922 11,659,081 Carnelli et a1. Feb. 14, 1928 parnelli Feb. 14, 1928 I FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 

